New York Legalizes Recreational Marijuana, Tying Move to Racial Equity

• by NORML
• Posted on March 30, 2021

https://norml.org/blog/2021/03/30/breaking-new-york-legislature-approves-marijuana-legalization/

New York State lawmakers today advanced The Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA), which legalizes and regulates an adult-use commercial marijuana market in New York State, and also permits those over the age of 21 to cultivate personal-use quantities of cannabis in their own homes. Governor Andrew Cuomo is expected to sign the bill imminently.

“These votes are historic because they signal the beginning of the end of the racially discriminatory policies that have long made the Empire State the marijuana arrest capital of the United States, if not the world,” stated NORML Executive Director Erik Altieri. “Once enacted, this measure will end the practice of annually arresting tens-of-thousands of New Yorkers for low-level marijuana offenses, the majority of whom are overwhelmingly young, poor, and people of color.”

The Act allows adults to obtain marijuana from state-licensed retailers or grow their own (up to three mature plants at one time). The measure also facilitates the automatic review and expungement of past convictions for offenses made legal under the MRTA. Hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers will receive legal relief under this provision. 

Regulators would license commercial producers and sellers of cannabis, as well as issue licenses for delivery services and on-site consumption facilities. Retail sales will be taxed at nine percent, plus up to a four percent local tax, as well as an additional tax based upon THC content. Forty percent of tax revenue will be directed toward communities disproportionately impacted by cannabis prohibition. Provisions in the MRTA seek to award half of all business licenses to social equity applicants.

Law enforcement in New York has historically arrested its citizens for marijuana at astonishing rates. According to a 2020 report published by the American Civil Liberties Union, in 2018, almost 60,000 New Yorkers were arrested for marijuana law violations. Of those arrested, 95 percent of defendants were charged with possession only. Arrests for the possession of marijuana in the state made up over half of all drug arrests in 2018. Three New York counties (Columbia, Greene, Washington) fell within the top 20 in the nation for the most marijuana possession arrests per capita. More recent data, issued weeks ago by The Legal Aid Society, found that in the five boroughs in New York City for the year 2020, Black and Hispanics comprised over 93 percent of those arrested for marijuana violations.

https://norml.org/blog/2021/03/30/breaking-new-york-legislature-approves-marijuana-legalization/

• by Jenn Michelle Pedini, NORML Development Director
• Posted on April 7, 2021

https://norml.org/blog/2021/04/07/virginia-legalization-of-adult-use-marijuana-to-take-effect-july-1-2021/

Following today’s legislative approval of Democratic Governor Ralph Northam’s amendments to Senate Bill 1406 and House Bill 2312, Virginia becomes the first southern state to legalize the possession and use of marijuana by adults.

Last week, Gov. Northam recommended changes to the legislation to permit the personal use provisions of the law to take effect on July 1, 2021 rather than on January 1, 2024 — the enactment date initially approved by lawmakers. Today, a majority of the legislature concurred with that change.

Therefore, beginning July 1, 2021, adults will be permitted to possess up to one ounce of marijuana and to cultivate up to four cannabis plants per household without penalty.

Additional amendments added by Gov. Northam will allow the sealing of records related to crimes involving the misdemeanor possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute. Those records will begin to be sealed starting on July 1, 2021. Separate legislation enacted in 2020 previously sealed records related to misdemeanor marijuana possession. 

Records specific to the simple possession of marijuana and/or misdemeanor possession with intent to distribute records will be automatically expunged no later than 2025. Those with records specific to crimes involving the felony possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute may begin to petition the courts for an expounging of their records in 2025. 

The bill also allows for the resentencing of individuals currently incarcerated for marijuana-related offenses. The measure permits these individuals to have a hearing before the court that originally sentenced them, with legal counsel provided for indigent individuals. However, this portion of the bill must be reenacted in 2022.

https://norml.org/blog/2021/04/07/virginia-legalization-of-adult-use-marijuana-to-take-effect-july-1-2021/

                                               It's Awesome to finally see all those who have criminal records for possession of cannabis

                                                                         get their records cleared and dismissed in a quarter of the usa

                                                                                          it was a very different reality only 15 years ago

                                                                         i could hardly say the c word without everyone in the room freaking

                                                                                                     What a Time to witness:)

• by NORML
• Posted on April 12, 2021

https://norml.org/blog/2021/04/12/new-mexico-governor-signs-marijuana-legalization-automatic-expungement-measures-into-law/

Earlier today, Democratic Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed two separate measures into law amending the state’s marijuana policies. The first measure (House Bill 2) legalizes and regulates marijuana possession, production, and sales for adults. The second measure (Senate Bill 2) facilitates the automatic review and expungement of the records of those convicted of low-level marijuana offenses.

NORML State Policies Manager Carly Wolf said: “This is a day to celebrate! New Mexico will greatly benefit from this new revenue stream and the creation of thousands of jobs. Most notably though, legalization will spare thousands of otherwise law-abiding residents from arrest and a criminal record, and the state’s new expungement law will help provide relief to many who are suffering from the stigma and other collateral consequences associated with a prior marijuana conviction.”

NORML Executive Director Erik Altieri added: “New Mexico joins an ever-growing list of states that have realized the failures of marijuana prohibition and the harms it brings to their communities and citizens. The American people are demanding an end to prohibitionist policies that have wreaked havoc on communities of color, squandered countless millions in taxpayer dollars, and wasted limited judicial and law enforcement resources on criminalizing otherwise law-abiding individuals for possession of a product that is objectively less harmful than alcohol or tobacco.”

The adult-use measure (House Bill 2) permits those ages 21 and older to legally purchase up to two ounces of marijuana and/or up to 16 grams of cannabis extract from licensed retailers. It also permits adults to home-cultivate up to six mature plants for their own personal use. Retail sales would begin by April 2022. Activities involving the personal possession and cultivation of cannabis are depenalized on June 29, 2021, the date the new law takes effect.

The expungement measure (Senate Bill 2) stipulates that those with past convictions for offenses made legal under this act are eligible for automatic expungement of their records. Those currently incarcerated for such offenses are eligible for a dismissal of their sentence. It’s estimated that over 150,000 New Mexico residents are eligible for automatic expungement under this measure, according to the Department of Public Safety.

https://norml.org/blog/2021/04/12/new-mexico-governor-signs-marijuana-legalization-automatic-expungement-measures-into-law/

                                                                                     like dominoes:)